Greene Publishing, Inc.

By Jacob Bembry

Greene Publishing, Inc.

A man was injured in a wreck on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 17.

According to a Florida Highway Patrol report, at approximately 3:15 p.m., an unidentified vehicle was traveling east on U.S. 90.

At the same time, Michael Hoyle, 29, of Tallahassee, was traveling east on U.S. 90 in a 2010 Nissan.

The unidentified vehicle traveled into the eastbound lane and Hoyle took evasive action to avoid it.

Hoyle’s car traveled onto the south shoulder, striking a tree with the front of the Nissan.

Hoyle’s car came to a final rest, facing west.

The unidentified vehicle traveled onto the south shoulder then back onto U.S. 90, continuing to travel east and not stopping.

Hoyle was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries.

The Madison County Sheriff’s Office and Madison County EMS assisted at the scene.

FHP Trooper M.C. Boatwright was the investigating officer.

In an effort to reduce youth initiation into tobacco use, Tobacco Free Madison is hosting the Freestyle Connection, a spectacular BMX bike show Saturday, Sept. 24, at Lanier Field from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.  Freestyle Connection will give two performances, one starting at 10 a.m. and the other starting at noon.  This group came to town the last couple of years and performed shows for standing-room-only crowds.  As well as entertaining the crowds with jaw-dropping stunts, the Freestyle Connection helps promote good decision making like wearing your bike helmet and being above the influence of Big Tobacco’s marketing that attracts youth.

If you’re young (underage is fine) with a whole lifetime ahead of you, Big Tobacco has made it a lot easier to get past those awkward, unpleasant experiences many have with their first trials of tobacco use.  Big Tobacco is using candy-flavored tobacco products wrapped in bright, attractive packaging that draws the attention of rookie tobacco users.  Some of the chemicals in these specially flavored products have been manipulated so that they don’t cause the nauseous feeling commonly associated with initial tobacco use. The more pleasant of an experience for those just testing the waters, the easier it is for novice users to be drawn into a lifetime of expensive addiction to Big Tobacco’s products, lining its corporate pockets with their hard-earned money.

The flow of money does not stop there.  Vast sums of money are then required to address the life-long impacts of tobacco-related illness and lost productivity over one’s lifetime; large portions of that money are paid by non-tobacco-using taxpayers, an approximate 4 to 1 majority.

Flavored cigarettes, other than menthols, were banned by the FDA in 2009; cigarettes being the most common/preferred form of nicotine delivery making up nearly 90% of the tobacco market.  The FDA did not restrict the sale of other flavored products like cigars, cigarillos, blunt wraps and smokeless products, like dip and chew.  Marketing of products not covered by the FDA ban has increased greatly since 2009.  Communities are now working to restrict the sale of these flavored products at a grass roots level.

Tobacco companies are not legally allowed to market their products directly toward youth, so they deny that the chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-flavored blunt wraps in the cute, colorful packages are aimed at teenagers and young people.  Such marketing campaigns, they claim, are directed at smoking adults in general, of all ages.  Other common flavored products include peach flavored dip, grape flavored cigars and pina colada flavored blunt wraps.

Tobacco Free Madison wants to reduce young people’s initiation into a lifetime of tobacco addiction and thereby reduce the impacts of tobacco use in Madison County.  By pulling aside the curtain on the tobacco corporations’ marketing ploys and letting the young people and parents see to what lengths these companies are willing to go to get teenaged consumers hooked, addicted and subsequently get their dollars, the Freestyle Connection and Tobacco Free Madison hope that Madison’s young people will make informed decisions.  Teens can invest in their future by choosing a long, healthy, tobacco-free life rather than opting for the statistically shorter life of a smoker, which averages over 12 years less than non-smokers.  “Studies show that almost 90% of adult tobacco users began using before age 18.  So, if we can prevent initiation through 18, the odds are in our favor” says Tobacco Prevention Specialist, Doug Freer, of the Madison County Health Department.

Healthy Start will be on hand at Lanier Field with a limited number of bicycle helmets in various sizes for those who are interested.  The Whole Child Connection will be on site as well, helping parents and youth link to needed resources.

Come on out and join the crowds at Lanier Field for a fun-filled and informative event.  Check out tobaccofreeflorida.com for more information on tobacco prevention resources and free help to quit.

Submitted by Marianne Graves

The Lee Community Health Expo is slated for 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. this Friday at Lee City Hall at 286 NE County Road 255.

Attendees will be able to ask questions about services and programs available to them from the Madison County Senior Center, which serves age 60 and over.

This health outreach includes experts from the Area Agency on Aging for North Florida, Madison County Extension Office, Madison County Memorial Hospital plus health screenings and topics facing seniors.

Refreshments will be served and door prizes will be given away.Call (850) 973-4241 for details.

By Lynette Norris

Greene Publishing, Inc.

The Madison Woman’s Club began its first meeting after the summer break on Sept. 8 with outgoing president Jackie Johnson presenting certificates of appreciation to nearly two dozen members for their hard work on various projects during the past year, and looking ahead to the new service opportunities that awaited with a new slate of officers to lead the way.

Ethel Barefoot presented Johnson with a bouquet of flowers and a gift on behalf of the Club, in appreciation for Johnson’s work as president for the last two years. Then the new officers were installed during a brief ceremony.  Johnson passed the gavel to incoming president Mary Groover, and each of the new officers received a different color rose that symbolized her office:  Johnson, stepping into her new role as parliamentarian, received a peach rose; Kaye Browning, the new recording secretary, a pink rose; Sandra Bass the new treasurer, a coral rose; Ethel Barefoot, second vice president, a yellow rose; Margaret Ann Bunch, first vice president, a white rose; and new president Mary Groover, three red roses symbolizing love, respect and congratulations.

Glenda Gordon, who was unable to attend, is the new chaplain.

The first meeting was focused on children in the community, particularly school children in need.  Club members had brought in school supplies for them and Faye Browning would later divide all those donations into dozens of bags for distribution to the students.

Florida Smith read some hilarious excerpts from a book of children’s letters to God:  “Dear God, thank you for the baby brother, but what I really wanted was a puppy.”  “Dear God, are you really invisible, or is that just a trick?”  “Dear God, is it true my father won’t get into heaven if he uses his ‘bowling words’ in the house?”

The guest speaker was Jo Willis, State Director and Coordinator of Take Stock in Children, who recognized and thanked all the members who had participated in the club’s mentoring efforts, giving special recognition to Margaret Ann Bunch, a former student who is now a mentor herself.

The Madison Woman’s Club now has more mentors than any other civic group in Madison, Willis said; it had even surpassed Kiwanis, which had long held the lead in the number of mentors.

Woman’s Club members now actively mentor about 60 children, and of those 60, 15 were graduating this year, 34 had a cumulative 2.8 GPA, 24 had cumulative 3.0 and five had achieved straight A’s – a cumulative 4.0.

Next month, Jackie Johnson and Ethel Barefoot are going to the State Convention with the Madison Club’s scrapbook for the year, and the Annual District Meeting Oct. 15 will be held at Honey Lake Plantation.

That same Saturday is also Rachel Reichmann’s 100th birthday.  Daughters Nell Ring and Raye Wooley are holding an Open House for her that afternoon from 2 to 4 p.m. at their home on Livingston Street.  Members will be busy that day, going from the District Meeting that morning at Honey Lake to Rachel’s 100th birthday celebration that afternoon.

Ahead of them lies another year of service, with plenty of opportunities for fun and friends.

The Madison Woman’s Club meets the second Thursday of every month, and their next regular meeting is Oct. 13.

By Lynette Norris

Greene Publishing, Inc.

A record-breaking 131 people turned out for the September 14 meeting of the 55 Plus Club, their first gathering after a three-month break for the summer.

It was the special guest speaker who drew so many, according to Sonny Rollings, who chairs the Board of Trustees of the United Methodist Cooperative Ministries, sponsor of the 55 Plus Club.

“Having the Sheriff (Ben Stewart) is a big draw.  When he said he’d come back to speak again, we knew we’d have a big crowd,” said Rollings, as an extra table was being set up to handle the overflow.

Madison County Sheriff Stewart and his four-man drug interdiction team of Lt. David Harper, Sgt. Doug Haskell, Cpl. Michael Maurice and Sgt. Bill Hart were on hand to give the gathered crowd an overview of what the MCSO’s drug interdiction efforts had accomplished during its first three years in Madison County, and to give a demonstration of one of their K-9 Units in action.

Speaking first, Stewart said that drug interdiction was a key component of his election, as is his belief that nearly every crime in Madison County is somehow drug-related at its root.  But when he began his term as Sheriff, the drug interdiction team consisted of one man, “and that just wasn’t going to work.”

On his first day, he hired Haskell, and in short order had put together the four-man team that now covers the entire county.  The four men are also deputized as U.S. Marshals, meaning they can travel outside the Madison jurisdiction if need be while conducting an investigation.  They are  deputized and trained as U.S. Customs Agents, giving them more federal authority when needed as well as access to federal databases.  The team has been asked to train interdiction agents in other jurisdictions.

The first year Stewart was in office, his budget was cut by about $120,000.  The second year, the budget was again cut by another $350,000.  His office has had no capital outlay for equipment in its budget for three years, but with the drug cash the interdiction team has seized, they have been able to purchase about 20 fully-equipped patrol vehicles (including a boat that can be used in both patrol and search-and-rescue operations) 15 new tasers, two additional drug-detecting canines, video surveillance equipment and computer systems.

“Drug dealers are paying us to do our job in catching them,” said Haskell.

Rather than handling any of the drug money directly, the Madison team always turns the money over to the federal agents, who then return a percentage of the money to the county through official channels.

The MCSO has also been able to contribute a portion of the drug money toward drug rehabilitation (for Madison residents only) and to charitable efforts like the Boys and Girls Ranches.

Haskell also presented some never-before-seen video from two “indoor grow operations” found in Madison County, one in a stripped-out double-wide trailer, and the other in a semi trailer.  Both operations involved hundreds of nearly mature plants, and both were stealing power from the utility company at the rate of $28,000-$30,000 a year, a cost that is eventually passed on to other consumers.

When the Sheriff himself appeared briefly in one of the scenes, Haskell said, “I have no idea who that guy is,” to a round of laughter.  “I think he was one of the suspects.”

The final part of the presentation, and the most eagerly awaited, was outside.  People got a close-up look at the boat and some of the vehicles and the equipment the sheriff’s office now uses and a chance to see a demonstration of one of the K-9 Units in action.  Arko, a shepherd/Malinois mix, was led once around an SUV containing a hidden stash of drugs, and quickly located the hiding place behind the right front headlight, to the delight of the crowd.

The 55 Plus Club meets at noon on the second Wednesday of the month at the United Methodist Cooperative Ministries building, on the corner of Colin Kelly Highway and Dill road, about five miles north of town.  Lunch is provided by whichever church is hosting that particular month, and the there is always a presentation on a topic of interest to seniors.

There are no fees or dues; anyone 55 and older is welcome to attend.  Their next regular meeting is October 12 at noon.

For more information, contact Deborah Brown at UMCM, 929-4938.

Big Bend Hospice asks that you pick-up an extra six-pack; Help patients who can’t afford needed nutritional supplements

Big Bend Hospice is asking that you pick-up a nutritional supplement six-pack the next time you are in the grocery or drug store.

Due to their terminal illness or disease, many Big Bend Hospice patients in Madison County need nutritional supplements because they have lost their appetites for regular food or are unable to chew regular food.  The extra nutrition provided by these nutritional shakes can help meet the patient’s dietary needs, but they are not covered by insurance.

Many local families cannot afford the cost of these supplements.  Big Bend Hospice is asking local citizens, organizations or churches to help us collect nutritional supplements for patients here in Madison.

Packs of nutritional supplements can be dropped off at Big Bend Hospice Office, 225 SW Smith St. in Madison.  Big Bend Hospice staff will deliver the supplements to the patients in need.

All flavors and any leading brand of nutritional supplement are needed.

Big Bend Hospice has been providing care to Madison County patients and families since 1983.

A non-profit organization, Big Bend Hospice helps anyone with a life-limiting illness without regard to race, age, income, nationality, gender or religious background.  Big Bend Hospice works with the patient and patient’s family to provide comfort, pain and symptom control, quality of life, and insure personal dignity and respect.

For additional information about the need for nutritional supplements or more information about your hometown hospice, call Michele Brantley at Big Bend Hospice (850) 566-7491.

Submitted by Marianne Graves

The Madison County Senior Center’s Flu Shot Clinic takes place this Thursday from 9:30 a.m to 1:30 p.m. with CVS pharmacist, Lee Norris.

Call (850) 973-4241 to make an appointment.

Medicaid and some insurance will pay for the flu shot. The Senior Center is located at 1161 SW Harvey Greene Drive, just off State Road 14 South.

The best protection from the flu for senior citizens, according to the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, is to receive a flu vaccination every year. Ninety percent of the flu-related deaths and more than half of flu-related hospitalizations occur in people 65 and over.